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| The following report of the IAMS 2000 conference was contributed by Dr Siga Arles. The IAMS 2000 conference was hosted by the Southern African Missiological Society.
For more news about the IAMS 2000 conference, see the IAMS page.
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"Reflecting Jesus Christ:
Crucified and Living in a Broken World"
-A Report of the Tenth IAMS Conference
by
Professor of Missiology, Serampore College, India
"Reflecting Jesus Christ: Crucified and Living in a Broken World". This was the theme of a gathering of missiologists from around the world who converged together from 21 to 28 January 2000 at Pretoria in South Africa. I had the privilege of participating in this very significant conference and shall venture to share my observations with you through this article to disseminate information on wider developments in mission around the world.
The Tenth IAMS Conference, Pretoria
First, let me narrate the conference programme itself and the way it related the South African realities to the task of mission theology, commenting from my observations on 'the post-apartheid South African situation', and then, we shall consider the organising body of the conference, the International Association for Mission Studies.
The original venue for the conference was changed at a late point to the Hammanskraal Campus of the University of Pretoria, which is some 50 miles outside the beautiful city of Pretoria. This campus originally was a Roman Catholic Regional Seminary where they tried to develop an integrated campus for blacks and whites during the agony-filled apartheid period. A beautiful campus with a central Chapel-cum-Conference Hall, shaped round at the base and protruding like a cone, with single roomed hostel rows in two floors and rows of mini-conference rooms and numerous rooms for group meetings. The dining facility was superb with a twenty-four hour supply of coffee, tea and sumptuous food. At once it gave the feel of being in the first world! The only striking thing was that the gate keepers, night watchmen, cleaners and cooks were all blacks and the supervisors, office staff and leaders were whites. Perhaps this will slowly change to include the blacks into all cadres of service in future. It was wonderful to see the team of cooks and servers give a special song in the closing service, swaying to the rhythm and breaking into a joyful dance. They moved out from the conference hall to the dining hall continuing to sing and dance – one could see through the large glass windows of the chapel that they still were dancing in the dining hall few minutes after they had gone. A joyful people! One could sense a deep respect for these people who have suffered indignity of apartheid for years and have slowly fought their way out of it and are now gently adjusting to the new situation of freedom, equality and reconciliation. This campus gave us a serene atmosphere to reflect together on missiology for the new millennium ecumenically.
The term 'reflecting' already implies that there is a reality that is really real, an event and a happening, of which we are only faithful reflectors. We are NOT the originators of the event or story or the gospel, we are called to faithfully reflect it as it is and to attest its reality as God's revelation and its power to save to the uttermost. Just as a mirror would merely reflect the object as it is, for us involved in Christian mission, the task would be to reflect the object of Christian mission without distorting the validity or veracity of the gospel. Whereas this gives a passive role in reflection, there is another aspect of active reflection which involves the mental process of thinking, relating, revising, evaluating, criticising, correcting and improving as the act of reflecting. This second role leads to creative theologising. The IAMS conference was precisely to allow for and facilitate such a reflection by missiologists from around the world.
The person of Jesus Christ is what we reflect as the gospel of God. In times like this when there is a lot of challenges of religious and ideological pluralism which call for a placement of Jesus Christ as one among the many and there is an increasing tendency to dilute the relevance of the personhood of Jesus Christ as 'the Saviour from God, the second person of the trinity and as God Himself', and to relativise the gospel and the place of the Church as the New Israel or the Kingdom Community, the theme clearly spelt out the task of Christian mission as that of reflecting the person of Jesus Christ.
Crucified: Jesus as a good moral teacher is not what we need to reflect as a priori gospel. It is not the ethics he taught, but the justification, regeneration and sanctification that he wrought on the cross as the crucified saviour. This forms the central message of our Christian mission. But for the cross, there is no value in Christian mission. Jesus Christ not only becomes a dharmic principle but offers eternal salvation in the act of believing and receiving him into the hearts and lives of human persons, whose lives are transformed by the power of his gospel and the inworking of his Holy Spirit whom he promised to send from God the Father as the third person of godhead. To reflect a crucified Jesus Christ at once sets us at cross roads of choice and freedom to follow him or to reject him. We affirm that there was a death and that it had certain significance and meaning. We attest the place of blood and its atoning value as foretold in the Old Testament record, and we lift the cross high which as Jesus claimed will allow him, the crucified, to draw all people to himself in reconciliatory mode both vertically with God as well as provide the basis for the horizontal reparation of broken relationships amongst people.
Living: To have used the term 'risen' would have meant the cessation of the image of Jesus Christ as the crucified person. The risen would imply the one who has risen from the dead as the victorious and triumphant one. Immediately it fans the human tendency for triumphalism and supremacy. The Church in mission has often been blamed of this tendency which became dominant over that of service mentality, self sacrifice as in Jesus style and willingness to loose one's rights for the uplift of others. Rather than a dominant mode, what is portrayed here is a 'crucified and living' mode, where one remains dead to self, keeps dying to self and selfishness, is conscious of the cross orientation for life and lives life as a crucified person.
In discussing the rationale for the theme of the conference, Klaus Schafer comments that as many around the world were planning on big celebrations of welcoming the new century and the third millennium, "we as the international, ecumenical missiological community ought to be conscious of the significance of the time for our conference, but to avoid any triumphalistic note in our conference theme, as well as in the program and proceedings of the conference".1 He clearly stated that whereas many had false expectations of the new millennium, which could be confusing and misleading; the mission conference should rather start the new millennium "with a sober mind, with a sense of being engaged in a "mission in bold humility" … and a sound vision for our missionary call" as proposed by Saayman and Kritzinger.2 The perspective of seeing the world as wounded and broken should be the priority in theologising in the new millennium.
Broken World: The context of reflecting Jesus Christ is to allow Jesus to affect the world around us – and that world is a 'broken' world. The brokenness of the world is something that we all experience in different places in different ways. The brokenness of relationships between the blacks and the whites in South Africa provided a graphic backdrop against which the conference was to theologise on our task of reflecting Jesus Christ. The message depicting the extent of the brokenness of our world reached its climactic point for us at the conference when the Rev. Michael Lapsley stood at the podium with his metal hands to speak of the 'healing of wounded memories' and again it touched vibrant cords when the youth drawn from the streets of Johannesburg put up their street play for us and characterised the hurt, agony and travail of the youth in transition in a nation in transition in South Africa. This brokenness of our world was related to the Sri Lankan setting of the political turmoil between the Tamil Tigers and the Singhalas in a plenary paper by the Rev. Dr. Chandrakanthan. It was related to the divide between men and women by Dr. Chun Chae Ok of Korea, in her address as the outgoing President of IAMS. Other illustrations of the brokenness of the world to which we are to reflect Jesus Christ, the crucified and living person, as the healer and the reconciler, were brought up in the interactions in small groups in the Bible studies and exposure group discussions.
This whole act of taking a good look at the actual world around us and seeing it in its broken conditions, is to enable us to develop a contextual theology which is authentic to human need as the first fruit of our reflection and then lead us to a mission practice which will be incarnational and contextually relevant. Hence, the conference stood in line with the developing trends of the journey of the church around the world in mission.
The Programme: Exposure Groups, Plenary Sessions, Mission Study Groups,
Bible Study Cells, Regional Groups, Ecumenical Flavour
The situation at Rwanda took away Nelson Mandela and Frank Chikane to a problem solving mission. Hence, the inaugural of the conference placed the Dean of Theology Department at the University of Pretoria, Dr. Klippies Kritzinger, prodigy of David Bosch and Willem Saayman, to open the conference with an excellent address. He insisted that we see in each other's face, the face of God and reflect that face to the broken world. He brought God as very really present in the conference in all the varied faces, experiences and expertise and alerted us to take each other seriously. A point which challenged us to a very large extent!
Exposure Groups: For the second and third days, the whole conference of 220 participants went to see South Africa in and around Pretoria and Johannesburg with our many guides. Some went to see the "African Independent Churches" where a new wind of the Spirit is blowing to allow the pilgrim church to shape and form new styles of worship and authenticity. Those who went to Soweto and met with people involved with the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)" came back with a shock and looked like a lightening had hit them… what they heard and saw as the experiences of people were too much to stomach. Some went to see the "Historical places" and the "Inner City Mission in Pretoria" and others to see the devastation of "AIDS and HIV", the influence of "Other Faiths", the South African endeavour for "Land and Community Development" and to take note of the status of women in South Africa.
Dr. Stephen de Beer took us through the inner city mission work in Pretoria graphically painting for us the picture of the plight of the whites who are fleeing the city to develop their new suburbs, the moving in of the blacks to make an upward mobility and the empty look of the streets where the increasing 'to let' and 'for sale' signs haunt you as you drive through… the shelter for women and the child prostitutes, the challenge to the church to act fast and fitting. The pastor of the Wesley Methodist Church recounted the change of the inner city rich white congregation to a multiracial poor church which cannot keep up with the maintenance of the large building and has had to find ways to generate income and provide income earning techniques to the new worshippers. The German missionary to the city youth spoke of the challenge of the street kids; and the City Councilors narrated their attempts to house the new comers who cannot afford to rent or buy the houses on lease or sale. They described the problems and challenges they face in enabling the reconciliation to progress smoothly.
We were gripped with a feeling that here was humanity in exodus, derooted, mobile and unsettled. The change from 1992 to 2000 had been too rapid. The people are unable to cope with the change. It needs time. The Whites need time to readjust. The Blacks need time to take over offices and responsibilities. The transition has to be smooth. The churches had a role to help in this process – but were still in the process of identifying the implications of that role.
Professor Nico Smith had tales to tell of the experiences of the people of his country. As a professor and a pastor, he had the most precise words to say to let us in into the agonies and experiences of his people – both Whites and Blacks. As a young pastor of the Afrikaner heritage, he was much influenced by the books of Karl Barth. When he had the privilege to meet Barth in Germany, he recounts how Barth's question turned him around. "Are you able to preach the Gospel in South Africa?" To begin with Nico thought 'yes', but even as the question was repeated in John 21 style, like Peter, Nico woke up to recognise that the Gospel of liberation was not being preached in his country but that pulpit after pulpit was peddling an enslaved and enslaving gospel inflicted with concepts of apartheid. When he returned to his country, he resigned from the Afrikaner Party and moved to be a pastor in the black settlement in Mamelodi. He took us and showed us his house in Mamelodi, a black township in the outskirts of Pretoria. With police escort we went through the area, which looks like a war-time prison camp. Graphically he portrayed how the Whites lived in the city, the edge of the city had the industrial belt, next to it was the Black section where men alone lived in work hostels, six men to a room and all their women and families were in the homeland far away! Then there was the coloured housing area; lining the skyline far away at the foot of the hill was the Indian sector. Segregation – legislated segregation was a way of life just a few years ago. But now, the vast land is allotted to the Black people, who are slowly building their homes, some with tin, cardboard, asbestos and wood; others with bricks and stones, as their finances permit. There are cars and shops and sports… signs of a change at work. It was interesting to be taken to the police station for our lunch, served by bright eyed police men and women who were so thrilled to see us from around the world. Nico indicated that Black women went and worked as domestic aids in White homes in the city. They were allotted a back room where they retired to live their lonely lives staring at the wall after having worked all day to take care of the cleaning, the cooking, the kids and the many chores. Their families were away in homeland. One such woman had worked for a long eighteen years in a White home and had died. Nico was called to do something and to his dismay he found that the owner neither knew the name of the woman or her home address. Whom to inform that she was dead? The woman was nameless! Eighteen years of living in a house as a nameless person! Nico could not have said it better for us to grasp the extent of the inhumanity that prevailed in South Africa.
As an Indian I was keen to see the Indian sector. When I asked the Black Police Inspector at Mamelodi "How come I do not see any Indians here?", he bluntly said, "This area is for poor blacks, Indians are rich, they are richer than the Whites. They live in Laudium". Hence, it was arranged for me and two other Indian friends to visit Laudium and Lenasia, the Indian suburbs of Pretoria and Johannesburg. It was good to see and feel the ethos of life of the Asian community in South Africa. The Sivan Koil, the Rameshwaram, the Gujarati temple, the many mosques and the exuberance of Indian life… "We would like to get a bride for our son from India" said a Tamil couple; "We look Indian, but we do not feel Indian, because we had never been to India" said an articulate young professional who felt a man in the twilight zone of neither here nor there. "Saivism is closer to truth and the latter corruptions should be cleansed out of our religion" said one who looked a scholar who had the Chidambaram family as guests recently at his home. Rev Arun John and family from Delhi Diocese of the Church of North India serve as missionary pastor with the Anglican Parish at Lenasia and feel they have an effective ministry to build the people in faith and practice.
Exposure to real life situations made us rich and we then sat in small groups to reflect on these situations. Those who observed the African Independent Churches, Other Faiths, Women, HIV and AIDS patients, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Land and Community Development works, all had rich situations on which to reflect from our mission perspectives. We pondered on how the crucified Christ is at work among them. What are the signs of hope and renewal and how is the church involved in this context? Which way should mission theology apply itself to this setting? If any, these discussions were of much value to start us on a route to relevant theologising in company with fellow scholars.
Plenary Sessions: There were three plenary addresses by Dr. Chandrakanthan of Sri Lanka, Dr. Paulo Suess from Brazil and Dr. Tinyiko S. Maluleke from South Africa with a response from Professor Philomena Mwaura of Kenya. After each plenary presentation the floor was open for comments and speaker's responses. The opening address by Dr. Klippies Kritzinger, the presidential address by Dr. Chun Chae Ok and the closing address by Dr. John Pobee added to the plenary input.
Research Reporting: A high point in the conference program was the three sessions allotted to enhance our missiological perspectives and awareness. The first was when we had a panel of some 12 editors of leading missiological journals from around the world present their magazines, their emphases and their plans. International Review of Mission, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Missiology, Missionalia, Mission Today, Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Mission Studies and others were introduced colourfully. In a second session we had representatives of major researches being undertaken in various parts of the world bring brief reports on what is being attempted. This was very rich and helpful to feel together with the global movement of the missiological thinkers and researchers. A third such session was when those interested in the use of computers in mission research met together with the Documentation, Archives and Bibliography (DAB) group under the leadership of Dr. John Roxborogh and discussed what is now possible with the internet and information technological advance for us to speed up our researches and to both access data as well as share and store data. This was a very useful session for most of us who attended.
Mission Study Groups: There were thirteen such groups which met four times in ninety minute sessions. The topics dealt with and the facilitators who led were as follows:
I chose to be part of the group nine which dealt with the History of Christian Mission in the Second Millennium. We were nine members in this group: I was the only Indian and third world person in the group; others were, from the Netherlands Dr. Pieter N Holtrop, Dr. Roojier Van Rossum and Dr. Paule Streenbrink-Maas; from USA Dr. Howard Snyder, Dr. Scott W Sunquist and the Rev. Gary R Corwin; from UK Dr. Lawrence Nemer and from Zimbabwe Dr. Franz J Vestraelen. We first reflected on what all researches are being done in which we are ourselves involved. Then we discussed what needs to be studied. We also considered the prospects of becoming an interest group and planning a project to develop a new publication for mission history from the second millennium.
Bible Study Cells: Twice we met in small groups to study the assigned passages and to share our insights in the context of our exposures in South Africa. Since everyone was a teacher, leader and preacher, the mode was one of free sharing of thoughts to listen to one another's perspectives.
Regional Groups: Twice we met in regional groups to reflect on and plan for our regions. In the Asia and Oceania regional group, we were altogether 19 members representing India-10, Sri Lanka-1, Malaysia-2, Indonesia-1, Korea-2, Japan-1, Papua New Guinea-1 and New Zealand-1. We were drawn from all streams of the church: Protestants 7, Orthodox 1, Roman Catholic 10 and independent 1. Last quadrennium the Asian representative on the Executive Committee was Fr. Joy Thomas (who later moved to serve in Argentina) and for the next quadrennium among the names sent, the representative from New Zealand, Catherine Ross, was elected to the Executive.
Ecumenical Flavour: As the previous paragraph indicates, the conference drew missiologists from all the branches of the church from around the world. The worships were also organised in such a way that each day South African Christians of different tradition were brought in to lead from within their own ways. Various choirs from near Pretoria came in and sang with their lively body movements and gentle rhythms. One of the ministries to the street kids, based at Johannesburg, brought a display of their products and enacted a street play, which was superb and heart rending. An impressive value of this ecumenical gathering was that ecumenism was exercised at the Lord's Table. It was good to see the whole group participate in the Holy Communion together without any inhibition – a hopeful sign that this kind of missiology might work to build unity in the church in the third millennium. We were not much concerned of our divisions but felt together and thought together the whole time. It was a very rich ecumenical experience that should be promoted in all areas of learning and serving together in the third millennium.
Business Sessions: Of course there were 3 business sessions when the constitution was revised, the reports were heard and the new committee and officers were elected.
When I boarded the South African Airways flight out of Johannesburg, I felt I had become a part of the global team of missiologists and could cross the little barriers that divide us to wish to work to complete the task of Reflecting Jesus Christ in our Broken World by emulating the act of 'crucified living' along with fellow missiologists at our own nooks and corners.
The above is a report of the tenth conference of the IAMS. Let me take time now to explain what is IAMS and how it was started and how it functions.
Shortly known as IAMS, this organisation was born in Europe through the initiative of Olav Guttorm Myklebust who had done research on Mission and Theological Education.3 As the Director of the Egede Institute in Oslo, Norway, in 1951, he proposed to set up an institute with the following objectives: 1) to establish an "International Association of Missiologists"; 2) to organise international conferences for the discussion of missionary subjects in a strictly scientific spirit; and 3) to publish a "scholarly review of high standards".4 His argument was that "Missionary Research by its very nature is global in scope and thus needs an international structure".5 Contemporary Protestant and Roman Catholic missiologists of repute such as T. Ohm, J. Beckmann, K.S. Latourette, R.P. Beaver, E.A. Payne and S. Neill responded positively. Charles W Ranson and Walter Freytag agreed to have conferences but did not see the need for an association.
Joachim Wietzke, who served as the Secretary during the eighties, in his "A Brief Historical Sketch" of "The IAMS Story" states that "In spite of further attempts by O.G. Myklebust to establish an "International Association for the Scientific Study of the Christian World Mission", nothing actually moved towards the implementation of this idea for more than a decade." He indicates that the German scholars "showed little interest in dialogue with Anglo-Saxon and with American missiology in particular" and were opposed to the idea of an association. But the European Consultation on Mission Studies at Selly Oak Colleges in Birmingham in 1968 took up the proposal to create "a worldwide interconfessional missiological society" and then at a conference in Oslo in 1970, it was unanimously decided to establish the International Association for Mission Studies (IAMS). The objective as set was "to promote the scholarly study of theological, historical, social and practical questions relating to mission, to promote fellowship, cooperation and mutual assistance in its study, and to relate studies in mission to studies in theological and other fields". H.W. Gensichen was elected the first President, A. Camps OFM – Vice-President and O.G. Myklebust, the first Secretary and Treasurer.
Within months over 200 individuals and 39 institutions applied for membership. It soon grew to become a worldwide body of missiologists. From 1972 it brought mission teachers, practitioners, administrators and students to interact on mission from an academic perspective. At various parts of the world missiologists gathered to reflect on mission from within the context of those countries. IAMS has had its conferences thus far in 1) Driebergen, Netherlands (1972), 2) Frankfurt, Germany (1974), 3) San Jose, Costa Rica (1976), 4) Maryknoll, New York, USA (1978), 5) Bangalore, India (1982), 6) Harare, Zimbabwe (1985), 7) Rome (1988), 8) Kaneohe, Hawaii (1992), 9) Buenos Aires, Argentina (1996) and 10) Pretoria, South Africa (2000).
In 1978 Johannes Aagaard claimed that IAMS had grown into the "broadest ecumenical movement in Christendom". Today IAMS has developed into a global fellowship with one third of the membership from the South and it covers virtually all traditions from the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Conciliar and Evangelical Protestant to the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Independent churches and movements.
In the words of its outgoing General Secretary Dr. Klaus Schafer of Evangelisches Missionswerk in Hamburg, Germany, "The distinctive character of IAMS compared with other organisations for mission is certainly its emphasis on study; IAMS is a scholarly and academically oriented Association, and therefore only persons who meet a certain academic standard or exhibit a certain degree of reflection about mission – documented in articles, publications, etc., will be accepted as members".6 His predecessor Dr Joachim Wietzke, again of EMW, has rightly said earlier that "there can be no mission studies of significance without engagement in mission".7 Hence IAMS as a scholarly Association of Mission Studies attempts to keep in mind the need to bring together academic excellence and field experience to bear on each other. It ably ventures to bring mission theory and mission practice to interact with each other to shape the way forward in mission.
IAMS comprises at present a total of 636 members (541 individual, 77 corporate and 18 associate members). They are drawn from catholic, evangelical and ecumenical orbits and represent mission societies, mission teaching institutions, university departments and mission research and publication centres from around the world.
IAMS functions through its Executive Committee which is elected at each conference. Beside representatives from 1) Asia and Oceania, 2) Africa, 3) South and Central America, 4) Europe and 5) North America, a President and a Vice-President are also elected, to serve along with the three major functional units: The Secretariat with the General Secretary (thus far based at EMW, Hamburg), the Treasury (based at the Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, England) and Mission Studies, the official publication of IAMS (with its editor presently based at the Chicago Centre for Global Ministries, USA). Thus the association is truly ecumenical in geographical spread and theological perspectives. The officers at present are Dr. Klaus Schafer as Secretary, Dr. Andrew Kirk as Treasurer and Professor Dr. Stephen B Bevans as Editor.
IAMS is not a mission fund raising body but a scholarly body to develop mission thought and practice from a broad spectrum. It has been like a midwife to promote the birthing of many projects and many regional missiological societies.
IAMS Projects:
Already in 1972 at Dreibergen IAMS set up a Working Party on Bibliography and Documentation with the purpose to collect, classify and standardize bibliographical information in the field of missionary research. This project has grown into a computerised programme on Documentation, Archives and Bibliography (DAB) providing indispensable tools for data collection and facilitating the flow of information between individual scholars, libraries and research institutes.8 Among others Andrew Walls, Steve Patterson and John Roxborogh have contributed much to this project.
The 1978 conference at Maryknoll formed the Biblical Studies and Missiology (BISAM) project to study the importance of recent exegetical research for missiology and to reclaim the New Testament as a basically missionary document. A first fruit of this project was MR Spindler and PR Middelkoop's Bible and Mission: A Partially Annotated Bibliography 1960-1980.9
As a result of the Harare conference, in 1986, a third project was set up on "The Church as a Healing Community". Later to widen the scope beyond the church, the project was renamed "Healing". It proves to be an useful instrument for the exchange of relevant studies in the field of healing concepts, both in traditional and western medicines and is geared towards an ambitious goal of developing contextual theologies of healing.10
Regional Missiological Societies:
South African Missiological Society : SAMS is an active body which operates as the regional body for missiology, bringing together people concerned with the teaching and practice of mission in South Africa. Its earlier leader David Bosch became internationally known and his book Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission11 has become a classic and a text book of worth. (Willem Saayman, Klippies Kritzinger, Jansie Killian and a host of others in SAMS were our hosts and local committee to take care of the many details of running an international conference at Pretoria. Nico Botha and Madge Karecki helped with worship and arrangements). SAMS promotes researches in mission theory and practice, holds occasional conferences and publishes a scholarly periodical Missionalia. Steve Hayes of the Greek Orthodox Church in South Africa coordinates promoting of a computer network of missiologists and researchers through his "missiology at sixdegrees" program.12
American Society of Missiology: Perhaps the largest in terms of membership, this body has made significant contribution to shaping American missiological developments from the seventies. It publishes Missiology edited presently by Dr Darrell Whiteman of Asbury Theological Seminary.
Similar to SAMS, there are regional structures which promote relevant rethinking of mission concepts and methods and provide for interaction and fellowship among missiologists. British and Irish Society of Missiology is one such. In India, we might refer to the Fellowship of Indian Missiologists (FOIM) which has successfully met in conferences through the eighties and nineties and published few study guides. It has predominantly remained a Roman Catholic structure despite the attempts to ecumenical width. The idea of developing an Asian Regional Society for Mission Studies was discussed at Pretoria and perhaps such may develop in the future.
Both at the Indian and at the International level, there is need for more missiologists to come together and work together, sharing resources and perspectives in order that we may develop relevant theories and practices of mission in our setting. Within India, the Roman Catholics have done much to promote missiology with Ishavani Kendra in Pune, the large Institute of Missiology at Shillong, Centres for Social Action and the many periodicals such as Mission Today, Jnanadeepika, Evangelization, Third Millennium, etc., In Protestant circles, we have numerous interdenominational parachurch mission agencies which are sending missionaries and are involving in social transformation activities at various levels. Most of these are evangelical and relate under the India Missions Association. The Pentecostal structures are multiple and separatist. Church mission structures remain under church hierarchy, without much of a broader consultative study process. The whole area of developmental thinking, social action in terms of socioeconomic and political involvement of the church in mission is done by various structures, which have not come together with fellow missiologists to think together sufficiently.
In terms of academic missiology, Indian Protestantism is far behind. The number of qualified missiologists to teach at postgraduate level are only a handful in the nation. The Senate of Serampore College has started its Missiology department only in the last decade and offered Master of Theology degree from Union Biblical Seminary, Pune from 1992, from Serampore College from 1996, from United Theological College, Bangalore and Gurukul Theological College, Chennai from 1999. Thus far we have nearly 30 MTh Missiology graduates from the Senate. SATHRI, which coordinated the doctoral studies under the Senate, seems not to have produced missiologists. Evangelicals with Asia Theological Association have produced a certain number of MTh and Doctor of Missiology graduates. But the need remains large and hence, we should hope for a concerted effort to produce academic missiology by expanding the centres of missiological studies and researches. The example of IAMS and its inspiration should help in this process in India.
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2
Ibid., Cf. Willem Saayman and Klippies Kritzinger (eds.), Mission in Bold Humility: David Bosch's Work Considered, Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1996. 3
See his two volume work. 4
See OG Myklebust, "On the Origins of IAMS", Mission Studies, III-1,5, 1986, p4. 5
Quoted by Joachim Wietzke, "A Brief Historical Sketch" in the Internet information on "The IAMS Story". See http://www.iams.org.uk/storyof.iams 6
Klaus Schafer in his "Report of the General Secretary to the Xth International Conference", p.4. 7
ibid., p4. Quoted by Klaus Shafer. 8
For information on DAB, see the various reports in IAMS News Letter 2, pp4f; 13, pp8ff, 16/17, pp9ff, 18/19, pp12ff, and in Mission Studies, II:1, pp135ff, II:2, pp92ff, No.5, pp100ff, No.7, pp71ff, No.10, pp134ff, No.14, pp237ff. 9
Leiden-Utrecht, 1981. Also see Spindler's "Visa for Witness: A New Focus on the Theology of Mission and Ecumenism", Mission Studies, No.5, pp51-60. 10
See the project reports in Mission Studies, No.10, pp146-149; No.11, pp70-72. 11
Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1991, pp587. 12
Stephen Hayes and this program can be contacted at methodius@bigfoot.com; shayes@dunelm.org.uk;
II
A Brief Account of the "International Association for Mission Studies"
III
Implications for us in India
Notes and references
1
See Klaus Schafer, "Reflecting Jesus Christ: Crucified and Living in a Broken World" in Mission Studies, XVI-2, 32, 1999, p177.
hayesstw@yahoo.com.
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Started: 29 September 2000
Updated: 29 September 2000